Category: Love

The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton

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It is Sunday night. Today was warm, sunny, a little humid on the south western coast of England. And yet, standing in that sun, warmed by it, with this book open I am transported to a frozen canal sides of Amsterdam over the winter of 1686. And, as I write this, I'd love an olie-koecken.… Continue reading The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Jay Fowler

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Why are so few book covers yellow? This looks gorgeous! Like a literary bumblebee. I have to confess, the only reason I picked this up was the cover - despite the advice parents give their children the world over. That and Waterstone's promotions. But I'm really glad I did because it's a powerful, haunting, human… Continue reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Jay Fowler

A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan

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     This was a pleasant enough way to round of my half term: decently written in the engaging and practical voice of Lady Trent, this book conjures up a Regency style world with echoes of Austen. With dragons.  The opening sections of the novel are the most Austenesque - if that's even a word. Isabella… Continue reading A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

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What's the bravest thing you ever did? He spat into the road a bloody phlegm. Getting up this morning, he said. Yup. That is how bleak the world of this book is. Tragically, lyrically and devastatingly bleak, but bleak nonetheless. Nothing grows. Nothing lives. The world contains nothing of beauty or of value and very… Continue reading The Road, Cormac McCarthy

The Secret Place, Tana French

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I've noticed this book creep into the recommended reads of the local Waterstone's and into the supermarkets. Well... I was reading it first!   So, what do we have here?  It is a murder set in Dublin, Ireland revolving around the Murder Squad. It's the fifth in French's series which, as I understand from other reviews,… Continue reading The Secret Place, Tana French

Blood On Snow, Jo Nesbø

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This was not what I had expected from Nesbø. And I'm saying that in a good way. Nor is it what the sticker on the front proclaims it to be, "The Brand New Thriller" from the author of The Snowman. Well, it obviously is from the author of The Snowman, which is the only other Nesbø… Continue reading Blood On Snow, Jo Nesbø

All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

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I am no historian and my knowledge of World War Two is pretty much skewed by literature as much as my knowledge of World War One is skewed by poetry. But literature of World War Two seems to have waited. Almost as if it were too horrific, too traumatic to digest. Much of the literature… Continue reading All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro

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When I was an impressionable teenager, which feels a long time ago now, I imbibed a lot of Arthurian legends. Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Gawaine, Bedivere, Ector, Cai, Pelias, The Fisher King, Tristran, Iseult, Mordred, Morgana La Fey. And from there, at University, a unit on Medieval Literature reunited me with Gawain in Sir Gawain and The… Continue reading The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro

Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge 

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  This is a remarkable novel. Of the three CILIP Carnegie nominees I've read, this is my clear front runner. And I'm saying that having read Patrick Ness! Before I review it, however, I'm going to play a game with my sixteen year-old stepson, whose birthday it is today. Despite his protestations, he is going… Continue reading Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge 

How To Be Both, Ali Smith

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I find with this blog that some books can be reviewed almost from the moment you finish them. Others, I need time to ... ruminate. To cogitate. To digest. To reflect on. This book, Ali Smith's Man Booker Shortlisted How To Be Both, definitely falls into that latter category. It is beautiful. It is thoughtful.… Continue reading How To Be Both, Ali Smith

Lamentation, C. J. Sansom

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I do love a book with a map in its cover! I must confess I'm not entirely sure what this map adds to the book, but at a personal level, I used to live pretty much where Shardlake's house is! Inside Lincoln's Inn. Abutting Chancery Lane. And that, pretty much, sums up the appeal of… Continue reading Lamentation, C. J. Sansom

Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

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Ahhhhhh..... Some books are like taking a duvet day in December with a warm fire burning in the corner. And hot chocolate. Even though I don't like hot chocolate, the idea of hot chocolate. And in the arms of someone who loves you. These books are comforting. Warming. Safe. And so it is with Good… Continue reading Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Embassytown, China Miéville

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Hmmm... where to start with this one? It's a book on which I am still ruminating and which is still rattling away inside my brain after a couple of days. Nagging at me. Gnawing at my consciousness. And Miéville's writing does that: it dwells and lingers and questions and challenges you. That is why Miéville… Continue reading Embassytown, China Miéville

The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters

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There is so much to admire about this book that I feel almost guilty that I didn't love it. And I feel I might struggle to explain why without losing sight of the fact that it is a great book and beautifully written in places. As you'd expect from Waters, The Paying Guests inhabits a… Continue reading The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters

The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton

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Some books just blow you away. This one is absolutely in that category. One of those books that I struggle to find an adjective to describe the experience of reading it. Astonishing. Scintillating. Experimental. Complex. Extraordinarily sensuous. I can understand why many people might not like it. It is written in a non-linear way -… Continue reading The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton

History Of The Rain, Niall Williams

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Books appeal to me in a variety of different ways.Some are intellectually challenging; some have intricate or gripping plots; some tug on the heart strings; some create whole worlds inside me; some create characters who live on inside my mind and imagination.And some sing to me. They breathe under my fingers. They live. And this was one… Continue reading History Of The Rain, Niall Williams

More Than This, Patrick Ness

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I am a huge Patrick Ness fan! Let me put that out there at the start of this. I hugely admired his Chaos Walking Trilogy but was utterly blown away by the visceral emotion and mythic scope of A Monster Calls. There are few books that dig inside you as much as that one. This… Continue reading More Than This, Patrick Ness

Room, Emma Donoghue

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This book had been on my to-read list since it was listed for The Booker Prize. The copy I had was electronic and just stopped about 20 pages in... And I never got round to replacing it. Until it cropped up whilst I was browsing on Audible. This was a perfect book for an audio… Continue reading Room, Emma Donoghue

Roof Toppers, Katherine Rundell

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It's that time of year again: the Carnegie Medal Shortlist is announced! Much joy! Genuine excitement! Much fretting over how to juggle reading the Shortlist with doing work, marking, planning ... and, this year, entertaining the baby! And Roof Toppers was a lovely way to start the Shortlist ... Which I finished today by reading… Continue reading Roof Toppers, Katherine Rundell

Strange Meeting, Susan Hill

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I do not generally choose war books. In all honesty, had I come across this book with this cover in a shop or library I would probably have skipped over it. I like Susan Hill; I dislike war. I am particularly hesitant about The Great War novels written recently: I'm uncomfortable with the glorification of… Continue reading Strange Meeting, Susan Hill

The Golem and the Djinni, Helene Wecker

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There are some books - most books probably - which I read, finish and review pretty much straight away. They are like those meals which are fine, tasty and enjoyable but which you move on from. Some, however - stretching the metaphor perhaps to breaking point - I like to savour more, to digest, before… Continue reading The Golem and the Djinni, Helene Wecker

The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion

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Well, that was a quick read! I was browsing various book lists with a view to spending some Christmas money and The Guardian's Independent Bookshop review of 2013 cropped up with this book. It is, at heart, a romance novel which is certainly not a usual genre for me. The main character, Don Tillsen in… Continue reading The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion

The Twelve, Justin Cronin

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It's a strange thing with books. You can start one - particularly a lengthy one like this - and things get in the way of you finishing it. That's not the strange thing. That - I imagine - is familiar. Maybe you put it down because work has become hectic or your baby is born… Continue reading The Twelve, Justin Cronin

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman

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There is only really one word to describe this book. Perfect. Absolutely and undoubtedly, a perfect book. Powerful, moving, honest. A true book. A summary of the plot here will not serve to convey its power. Go out and read this book. In my own small way, however, here goes. The adult narrator returns to… Continue reading The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman and mothers

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What is it with Neil Gaiman and mothers? I am in the midst of listening to the wonderful The Ocean at the End of the Lane - personally, I think that this book is going to be a clear favourite from Gaiman who is already one of my favourite authors! - read by Gaiman himself.… Continue reading Neil Gaiman and mothers